I'm not saying they don't have the right to overtime. When OT is offered at work, I take it any chance I get. Of course, my OT might hit 4 hrs at best and it's not gonna match my salary.

It's this line that stuck out:

Now, it turns out the FBI apparently has issues with it, too, after authorities seized more Pittsburgh police-related records from the Greater Pittsburgh Police Federal Credit Union earlier this week.The amount of money paid out for special details, department overtime, and other premium pay topped $13 million last year.

shmenguin wrote:i mean...guys either work OT and get paid extra per hour or they hire more people and have to pay the overhead for benefits and whatnot.

I haven't really been following this, so I could be completely off here, but I think the issue is not these guys working actual OT, it's the amount/ getting paid a premium for working side jobs at bars and what-not that is the issue.

Seems a bit crazy, no? I mean, get paid $66k for 40 hours of work, yet still have time to work the premium shifts and make another $105k?

“I mean, he's making $60,000 a year, and then he ends up with $160,000 in total salary with overtime. That means he's putting in a lot of hours. Is he giving me what I’m paying him to be as a police officer?

shmenguin wrote:i mean...guys either work OT and get paid extra per hour or they hire more people and have to pay the overhead for benefits and whatnot.

I haven't really been following this, so I could be completely off here, but I think the issue is not these guys working actual OT, it's the amount/ getting paid a premium for working side jobs at bars and what-not that is the issue.

i'm not clear either...maybe the issue is that when they're working bar, they shouldn't make as much as when they're patrolling the streets? but from the article, that pay is subsidized by the bar itself, so there's no problem that i can see.

or maybe it's just people getting fussy that some people make a lot of money

edit...

what does this mean..."The cops are on duty, but their pay comes from the bars after it goes through the police department’s special events office."

the office pays the bar that pays the cop? or the bar pays the office that pays the cop?

If the city factors earnings as a factor of pension benefits, the more you make in total, boosts future pension earnings. Locally, it is not uncommon for a senior officer to pull as much OT as possible for the final three years before retiring, thus showing a six-figure salary as the baseline for pension benefits. Doing this, your base salary may for example be $80k, but if you add another $80K in OT, future earning are based on $160k, and you could receive a pension check equal to your base salary.

The city may be compensated for your services protecting a bar, but your salary is your salary regardless of how the money was earned.

BigMcK wrote:If the city factors earnings as a factor of pension benefits, the more you make in total, boosts future pension earnings. Locally, it is not uncommon for a senior officer to pull as much OT as possible for the final three years before retiring, thus showing a six-figure salary as the baseline for pension benefits. Doing this, your base salary may for example be $80k, but if you add another $80K in OT, future earning are based on $160k, and you could receive a pension check equal to your base salary.

The city may be compensated for your services protecting a bar, but your salary is your salary regardless of how the money was earned.

I am a certified fraud examiner, and this whole thing smells really bad. There could be a lot of shaddy actions going on related to this.

What relationships do the bar owners have with the police staff or mayor's office? Is the officer or person in charge of making the assignments to the bars get kickbacks from the officers? Why do the bars need police officers to run security? Why not just hire a security company? Is the city charging a fair value to the bars for the services of the officers? Are the officers actually working the hours claimed,? Are they drinking at the bar, or submitting hours they never worked?